Microsoft and Apple go back; way back. Back before the twenty-first century. They have butted heads and tried to appeal to the public as to which operating system was better and who had the best products over the years. While it is incredibly obvious, a Microsoft executive actually admitted that the Windows Phone was purposely made to rival the iPhone. The executive's name is Joe Belfiore, one of the engineers that helped bring the Windows Phone operating system to our world.

Belfiore was noted by the New York Times in a report saying, "Apple created a sea change in the industry in terms of the kinds of things they did that were unique and highly appealing to consumers. We wanted to respond with something that would be competitive, but not the same."

While most, if not all, of us can agree that Apple turned the playing field for smartphones into a more profitable field with the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, we were not expecting Microsoft's engineer to explicitly blurt out that the iPhone was their motive behind the Windows Phone. While not surprising, it was the Macintosh operating system that brought birth to the Windows operating system. History repeats itself. The only difference this time around is that iOS comes ahead of Windows Phone 7, where on a personal computer level, Windows has come ahead of Macintosh.

Windows Phone offers a rather distinctive GUI (graphical user interface) that screams Microsoft. We see that Microsoft is taking that signature design into Windows, as those of us who have the developer copy of Windows 8 handy have seen. Windows 8, also promises to become a tablet operating system as well as a desktop operating system, which helps it compete not only with the Macintosh computers that Apple sells, but also the iOS iPad. The way that Microsoft's software works, is certainly, "competitive." Calling it the, "same" however, would seem impossible.

What has Microsoft produced that has competed with Apple's iPhone so far? SkyDrive competes with iCloud. Internet Explorer competes with Safari. Hotmail competes with MobileMe (now iCloud). Windows Phone 7 has everything that it needs to be a powerful operating system capable of fighting neck and neck with iOS. At the same time, it's a completely different experience from one operating system to the other.

Would you agree that the Windows Phone operating system is competitive, but not the same? Share in the comments.

Mango is kinda growing on me despite the lack of apps. I'm not a big mobile gamer, but I do need quite a few apps on my phone to remain productive. So far I've only found replacements for about half on Marketplace. But I do like the system.

Hahaha, the last statement asking whether the Windows Phone (as of 1/7/2012 that I wrote this) is competitive is a joke IMO. Right now from what I see, it's just too dang lacking.

Here's my rundown of Window's Phone 7

- Non-mainstream OS (as of yet, since I see one Windows phone for every 3-4 iPhones or 4-5 Android [random numbers I made up from personal observation; Numbers may be even higher of ios and androids])

- Fairly simple UI; Not as restristively simple as iOS, but doesn't have as many overwhelming options as Android. My only complaint is that it looks like it wastes space by having the large border around it (the black bar on the right hand side with the white arrow) and may bias the use to users who hold the phone in one hand to operate, especially with larger screened phones such as the HTC Titan.

My example is Youtube.
-Using Youtube on an iPhone is simple; It's a preloaded app, and works right out of the box.
-On an Android, it works okay, but lacks certain features
-Just trying to start Youtube is a pain, since you have to add a feature like some sort of flash.

Now, maybe your Android phone or Windows phone works great for you, but for me, both seem lacking. Right now, Android OS looks whacked up and needs to be unified by Ice Cream Sandwhich. The Phone OS (2.3) and Tablet OS (3.x) are completely different and need to work together. (Maybe even like what Web OS tried to do using NFC to transfer websites between the two and being able to answer calls on either the phone or tablet. I think this would be very possible since Android 4 on the Nexus has Android Beam.)

On the other hand, where Android has competitive potential to take a large market share of mobile devices such as Smart Phones and Tablets, Windows already has a large portion of the PC market. If Windows (which I hope they do) can connect and link their Phone OS and PC OS together, it could be a great experience both for Windows financially, and for the end user.

This is what I envision: A typical person. Numerous of people have both Smart Phones and PC's. (Most likely a PC with Windows) Now, if that person is at home, they may get a text message, but the phone is upstairs, now they can receive the text downstairs and answer it without going upstairs or even call them via computer. Or maybe they have to edit a document or manage documents; That person, if their PC is on, or the files are on Cloud, can be edited on the fly via phone.

Finally, I also hope the work Windows is doing on both the mobile OS and PC OS make the experience faster and more manageable for hardware manufacturers. (My hope is that companies that make mobile devices use either Windows Mobile or full Windows OS, the experience for the consumer is snappy and intuitive.)

The only good Microsoft product is the Xbox 360. I can't judge Windows phone because I haven't tried it yet, but Windows is crap compared to Osx. I am an Apple fan for the software. I haven't seen any company come close to the quality Apple puts into software. That is most likely why I despise Android and Windows. You could have the most amazing hardware in your machine, but it doesn't matter if your software is slow and buggy.

The only good Microsoft product is the Xbox 360. I can't judge Windows phone because I haven't tried it yet, but Windows is crap compared to Osx. I am an Apple fan for the software. I haven't seen any company come close to the quality Apple puts into software. That is most likely why I despise Android and Windows. You could have the most amazing hardware in your machine, but it doesn't matter if your software is slow and buggy.

What problems do you have with Windows 7 that you don't see with OSX? I'm genuinely curious as I use both OS'es myself and like them both.

(Please don't say general things like "it's buggy", say in which situations it is so).

The only good Microsoft product is the Xbox 360. I can't judge Windows phone because I haven't tried it yet, but Windows is crap compared to Osx. I am an Apple fan for the software. I haven't seen any company come close to the quality Apple puts into software. That is most likely why I despise Android and Windows. You could have the most amazing hardware in your machine, but it doesn't matter if your software is slow and buggy.

Windows is crap compared to OSx? ROFLMAO that must be why OSx is barely 5% of the market. Please name me 1 thing you can do on OSx that you can't do on Windows.

Microsoft has been in the mobile world for awhile now (anyone remember Windows Mobile? Zune?). Of course they're going to try compete with Apple and the iDevice. I don't know why this surprises anyone, that Apple comes out with a product, and Microsoft comes out with a competing product. So what? It's business. Microsoft makes their money from business-class software, both Desktop and Server. I don't see Apple being able to compete with Microsoft on that level. Consumer devices and personal software, maybe. Server-class software? Not so much. Case in point: VDI.

I really hope Microsoft finds their niche with Metro. Being able to seamlessly move documents between the desktop, tablet, and phone device using the cloud would be a dream for many businesses (mine is medical). If they can tie their Lync product into all three hardware platforms on Metro, that'd be even better.

Originally Posted by SwatPac

The only good Microsoft product is the Xbox 360. I can't judge Windows phone because I haven't tried it yet, but Windows is crap compared to Osx. I am an Apple fan for the software. I haven't seen any company come close to the quality Apple puts into software. That is most likely why I despise Android and Windows. You could have the most amazing hardware in your machine, but it doesn't matter if your software is slow and buggy.

I'd like to see some evidence of this too. I use both OS's at work and at home, and both have their strengths and weaknesses, but Windows software has come a long way from the Windows 98SE days. It also works very well on a variety of hardware - from ATOM processors on haptic touch panels to 6-core AMD's. There's also a much better selection.

If you can't judge Windows Phone and you "despise" Windows, what experiences are you making your judgement on?

for those of you saying W7 is horrible, you must not know how to take care of a computer, and that's why you jumped to Apple. I've had my low grade w7 pc for almost 5 years and i've not had a crash, ever. I defragment it and clean the disks once a month, and store my media on an external hard drive. My computer is faster now than it was new because i removed all that stupid **** it comes with from the factory. I also have a great antivirus i got from school that runs in the background.

I have been paying monthly from AT&T since last February when i was due for an upgrade. I was waiting for the ip5, that sucked, now i'm waiting for the 6. I might use it on the Titan, a giant 4.7" WP7 Mango. Maybe i'll go play with it today.

I find the Windows 7 User Preference Controls to be Tedious and unintuitive. One in an Application Windows is Competent enough but I still get more Support Calls from Windows Users who have no clue what Windows they have open or what apps they are running. So again their user interface is less intuitive than Mac OS. On the subject of the new Windows Phone it seems to Glorify the aspect of having no eye for design and the coolness of being Square and an incapacity for imagination or creativity. I still say it is the Phone with Granny Panties. Buy it for Grandma and Bury it with her.

In my experoence...OSX is total trash. I run into Kernal panices like they are cars on a New York street. Just recently, I had my OS X machine freeze during a system update, and upon restarting the computer...KERNAL PANIC. I coud not even boot my recovery USB stick as the the system was KPing as soon as the grey screen appeared.

I managed to fix it by booting a windows 7 USB and totally deleting all partitions off the HDD.I lost everything on that OSX machine...thankfully my Windows PC kept my backups safe.

With proper care, a Windows 7 machine s pretty much bulletproof. OS X, on the other hand, is very easy to break, that is why Apple sandboxes its users...to give the illusion that their OS is stable. Everything my OSX machine can do, my PC can do far better, with far more options.

Apple hardware is overpriced, to the point where buying an Apple computer translates to an almost immediate financial loss with no hope of upgrading, while a PC can be upgraded at a momemts noticr for a fraction of the price.

Anyone who says OSX is better, is either an Apple drone that needs to be told what they need, when they need it, and why they need it, or someone who never uses a PC.

Adendum: Or someone who is unable to maintain a computer, in which case, people like this should avoid ALL types of IT jobs.

Mango is kinda growing on me despite the lack of apps. I'm not a big mobile gamer, but I do need quite a few apps on my phone to remain productive. So far I've only found replacements for about half on Marketplace. But I do like the system.

The super sexy Lumia 800 helps too

Do you feel like there is a very consistent user experience with WP7.5? I've used all of the major mobile OSs on the market and its something that I feel like both Apple and MS have got right.

Creating a consistent look and feel across apps (even 3rd party) allows people who aren't power users to quickly acclimitize themselves to the UI.

I have to say, when I had my HtC Arrive, I loved the Metro look and feel. Having information on tiles was a great compromise between having plain static icons and over-the-top widgets. Unfortunately the hardware made me give up on the OS until I can get a great WP7.5 device.

Oh, and after getting to play with the Nokia 800, it's dead sexy! Its nice that I can actually talk about them now. I haven't even seen anyone in that org who has a 900 yet. Lets hope its a game changer, MS needs one right now, as well as pushing their devices on CDMA carriers.

for those of you saying W7 is horrible, you must not know how to take care of a computer, and that's why you jumped to Apple. I've had my low grade w7 pc for almost 5 years and i've not had a crash, ever. I defragment it and clean the disks once a month, and store my media on an external hard drive. My computer is faster now than it was new because i removed all that stupid **** it comes with from the factory. I also have a great antivirus i got from school that runs in the background.

I have been paying monthly from AT&T since last February when i was due for an upgrade. I was waiting for the ip5, that sucked, now i'm waiting for the 6. I might use it on the Titan, a giant 4.7" WP7 Mango. Maybe i'll go play with it today.

Knowing how to take care of a computer isn't what causes the jump. The fact that you don't have to is what causes the jump. Being lazy is the American dream. Your argument is based on old fallacies that plague the internet calling Apple users ignorant of computers. Any smart Mac user uses command lines to navigate Mac OS X. I suppose that being a windows user, you know UNIX-based command lines right? Apple's goal (and why they are succeeding in the market today) is because they make advanced products simple to use. It saves a lot of time and makes efforts a lot less cumbersome. If you want to hold onto a PC that makes you do that all yourself instead of getting work done, then I'd say that you're wasting your own time.

Originally Posted by LivesForJihad

In my experoence...OSX is total trash. I run into Kernal panices like they are cars on a New York street. Just recently, I had my OS X machine freeze during a system update, and upon restarting the computer...KERNAL PANIC. I coud not even boot my recovery USB stick as the the system was KPing as soon as the grey screen appeared.

I managed to fix it by booting a windows 7 USB and totally deleting all partitions off the HDD.I lost everything on that OSX machine...thankfully my Windows PC kept my backups safe.

With proper care, a Windows 7 machine s pretty much bulletproof. OS X, on the other hand, is very easy to break, that is why Apple sandboxes its users...to give the illusion that their OS is stable. Everything my OSX machine can do, my PC can do far better, with far more options.

Apple hardware is overpriced, to the point where buying an Apple computer translates to an almost immediate financial loss with no hope of upgrading, while a PC can be upgraded at a momemts noticr for a fraction of the price.

Anyone who says OSX is better, is either an Apple drone that needs to be told what they need, when they need it, and why they need it, or someone who never uses a PC.

Adendum: Or someone who is unable to maintain a computer, in which case, people like this should avoid ALL types of IT jobs.

Your argument is so biased and far from the truth that I don't know where to start plucking at you like a vulture. You are incriminating Mac users outright in a completely wrong and generalizing way. Windows is nothing but a big GUI. It's not that advanced. Mac OS X is command line-customizable, which takes much more experience than clicking in Windows. As for Mac OS X being generalized as for people who can't maintain a computer? Look at my above response as it pertains to you too.

I find the Windows 7 User Preference Controls to be Tedious and unintuitive. One in an Application Windows is Competent enough but I still get more Support Calls from Windows Users who have no clue what Windows they have open or what apps they are running. So again their user interface is less intuitive than Mac OS. On the subject of the new Windows Phone it seems to Glorify the aspect of having no eye for design and the coolness of being Square and an incapacity for imagination or creativity. I still say it is the Phone with Granny Panties. Buy it for Grandma and Bury it with her.

That stands to reason seeing as how windows vastly outsells OSX.

Originally Posted by Anthony Bouchard

Knowing how to take care of a computer isn't what causes the jump. The fact that you don't have to is what causes the jump. Being lazy is the American dream. Your argument is based on old fallacies that plague the internet calling Apple users ignorant of computers. Any smart Mac user uses command lines to navigate Mac OS X. I suppose that being a windows user, you know UNIX-based command lines right? Apple's goal (and why they are succeeding in the market today) is because they make advanced products simple to use. It saves a lot of time and makes efforts a lot less cumbersome. If you want to hold onto a PC that makes you do that all yourself instead of getting work done, then I'd say that you're wasting your own time.

Your argument is so biased and far from the truth that I don't know where to start plucking at you like a vulture. You are incriminating Mac users outright in a completely wrong and generalizing way. Windows is nothing but a big GUI. It's not that advanced. Mac OS X is command line-customizable, which takes much more experience than clicking in Windows. As for Mac OS X being generalized as for people who can't maintain a computer? Look at my above response as it pertains to you too.

While I agree with you on many points, you are living in dream land. Or, at the very least, you know that most Mac users wouldn't fit the smart category you speak of. Most people on ALL OSs point and click. It's that simple. That's the point of the GUI (and also why the average Joe off the street wouldn't kow/remember what MS DOS is/was). They aren't using command lines to navigate. A power user? Sure. If Apple (or any company) depended on power users to stay afloat, they would shut down in a heartbeat.

Frankly, I find your statements biased as well. You essentially imply that work doesn't get done on Windows... I am not sure I have ever seen you make a statement farther from the truth. You basically lose all creditability in striking down an other's biased statement when you fill your response with equal or perhaps a greater amount of bias.

Originally Posted by TheHahxOf2012

iPhones Better since you can jb it,PS3 Sucks, Windows is always better, and Xbox is awesome.

1. No JB for the 4S, yet. Also, is there really a NEED to root a windows phone? I have never REALLY used one. Is it as "closed" as Apple's iOS?
2. Relevance?
3. Better than what? And again, relevance?
4. And still, relevance?

Not at all. I said that I will get more work done getting to the point of working than worrying about maintaining the computer instead. If you want to ignore the updates and let your computer slow down in order to get work done, then go ahead. Even your attempt to mediate is biased - you've essentially told me that I'm implying something I'm not.

I feel that you have over-analyzed my points to the point of trying to start a whole new debate from them. We aren't average Joe's here. Here, we are discussing computer internals. An average Joe would have nothing to do with this conversation. I mean are you really going to tell me than an average Joe couldn't do this to do what they wanted to? Even if you were to use average Joe as an argument against me, this skirmish isn't about average Joe. It's about squashing the misconception that Mac OS X isn't customizable and that it was made for computer illiterate people.